1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display apparatus with an image pickup apparatus, where an image pickup device is integrated with a comparatively-thin display device of an organic electroluminescence (EL), liquid crystal, plasma type, or the like and, more particularly, to a display apparatus with an image pickup apparatus suitable for real-time bidirectional communication or the like such as a video phone or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, real-time bidirectional communication such as a video phone or the like can be made owing to a remarkable development of a communication network. The video phone is constructed with an image pickup unit for converting an object image into an electrical image signal and a display unit for converting the electrical image signal into a photosignal and displaying. The user of the video phone makes conversation with a partner while watching the partner's face displayed on a display screen of the display unit and, at the same time, the user's face is photographed by the image pickup unit and sent as an electric signal to the partner side. However, in a device which is used in the bidirectional communication such as a video phone or the like in the related art, since the image pickup unit is disposed at a position adjacent to the display unit or is provided as another separate apparatus, the receiver who is watching the display unit is photographed from the oblique direction. Therefore, a viewpoint of the receiver's face displayed on the display unit is directed to a position different from a viewpoint of a person who is watching the display unit. There is, consequently, such a problem that even if they are mutually talking, it is awkward and uncomfortable as compared with a case where they meet face to face and talk. There is also such a problem that the image pickup apparatus and the display apparatus have to be separately manufactured and assembled as a display apparatus or have to be provided as different apparatuses, so that manufacturing costs rise.
In consideration of such problems, the inventor of the present invention has disclosed the following display apparatus with an image pickup apparatus in the Official Gazette of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-010407. The display apparatus comprises: a display unit having a plurality of display pixels and light-shielding members arranged among the display pixels; and an image pickup unit arranged in a rear portion of the display unit, wherein the light-shielding member partially has an aperture portion for guiding light to the image pickup unit, and the image pickup unit has an image forming unit at a position corresponding to the aperture portion.
According to the above-described display apparatus with the image pickup apparatus, the operator thereof can be photographed while observing the display unit and a viewpoint of the operator can be made coincide with the partner displayed to the display unit. Since the thin image pickup unit is disposed at a front surface of the display unit, an increase in size of the whole apparatus can be avoided.
However, the position of the partner's face displayed on the display screen of the display unit does not always coincide with the position of the image pickup unit arranged in the display screen. There is also a case where the position of the user who observes the partner's face displayed at the position deviated from the position of the image pickup unit arranged in the display screen of the display unit is also deviated in accordance with the position of the partner's face.
FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams for explaining a difference between the viewpoint direction of the user who observes a display unit such as a video phone or the like and the direction of the image pickup unit in the related art. In the diagram, a display panel 108 serving as a display unit, a camera 106 serving as an image pickup unit, and a user 610 are illustrated. A position 611 shown with a mark “x” indicates a partner's face displayed on the display panel 108.
FIG. 6A illustrates the difference between the viewpoint direction of the user and an optical axis direction of the image pickup unit in the case of using a display apparatus in which the camera 106 for photographing the user is built in the display panel 108. In the diagram, the partner's face 611 is displayed at a position (position indicated with the mark “x” in the diagram) deviated from the position of the camera 106 in the positive direction of the x axis (+x direction) in the diagram, and the user 610 observes the partner's face 611 at a position deviated from an optical axis (z axis) of the camera 106. In this case, there is a difference of an angle θ1 between the photographing direction in which the camera 106 photographs the user 610 and the viewpoint direction of the user 610. If the angle θ1 is large, a person on the partner's side of the video phone who observed an image of the user photographed by the camera 106 recognizes that the user does not make a conversation while watching the partner's face.
In order to allow the person on the partner's side of the video phone who observed the image of the user photographed by the camera 106 to recognize that he or she is watching the user, it is necessary to decrease an angle θ between the photographing direction in which the camera 106 photographs the user 610 and the viewpoint direction of the user 610.
Therefore, in order to decrease the angle θ between the photographing direction in which the camera 106 photographs the user 610 and the viewpoint direction of the user 610, the camera 106 to photograph the user is disposed behind the rear surface of the display panel 108 as illustrated in FIG. 6B. By such a structure, an angle θ2 between the photographing direction in which the camera 106 photographs the user 610 and the viewpoint direction of the user 610 is made smaller compared with θ1. Therefore, the person on the side of the partner who observed the image of the user photographed by the camera 106 recognizes that the user is watching the partner himself.
However, if the camera 106 to photograph the user is arranged behind the rear surface of the display panel 108 in order to decrease the angle θ between the photographing direction in which the camera 106 photographs the user 610 and the viewpoint direction of the user 610, there is the following problem. That is, since the camera 106 disposed behind the rear surface of the display panel 108 has to photograph the user 610 through the display panel 108, there is such a drawback that the image to be photographed deteriorates under an influence of diffraction associated with a periodic structure of the display pixels of the display panel 108.